„This book takes us back to a time when philosophers and philosophy itself were sexy, glamorous, outrageous; when jazz was cool, and sensuality and erudition were entwined… Bakewell shows how fascinating were some of the existentialists’ ideas and how fascinating, often frightful, were their lives. Vivid, humorous anecdotes are interwoven with a lucid and unpatronising exposition of their complex philosophy …Tender, incisive and fair.“